Why the choice collapsed to one
RCS is not a feature an app can simply implement. The client has to be provisioned against the carrier network, and in practice that provisioning now runs through the Jibe platform at Google on every US carrier. Verizon dropped its own client in January 2025. AT&T retired Advanced Messaging and Samsung discontinued RCS in Samsung Messages in July 2026. What remains is a single supported path, which is unusual for Android and worth stating plainly rather than padding a comparison out to five entries.
Setting it up
- Install Google Messages from the Play Store if it is not already present.
- Open it and accept the prompt to make it your default messaging app, or set it under Android Settings, Apps, Default apps, SMS app.
- Tap your profile icon, then Messages settings, then RCS chats.
- Turn the toggle on and let the number verify. The status should end at Connected.
If it stops short of Connected, why RCS is not working covers the causes in order.
What about other messaging apps
Signal, WhatsApp, Telegram and the rest are fine apps, but they are not RCS clients. They run their own networks, so they reach only people who have installed the same app. RCS reaches the native inbox on any capable handset with no install at all. That is a different job, and comparing them on RCS support is a category error.
Third-party SMS apps such as Textra and Pulse are a different case again. They can send SMS and MMS perfectly well, but they have no RCS provisioning, so setting one as your default silently downgrades every conversation. If RCS matters to you, the default has to be Google Messages.
Setting it up on Samsung and other handsets
Samsung devices are fully RCS-capable. If RCS is not working on one, the fix is to set Google Messages as the default messaging app rather than to look for another client. Install it from the Play Store if it is not already there, open it, accept the prompt to make it default, then enable RCS chats in Settings and let the number verify. The same applies to Pixel, Motorola, OnePlus and the rest: the handset brand does not change the answer.
For businesses
Which app your customers use is not something you control or need to. A verified RCS message renders in whatever capable client sits on the handset, and falls back to SMS where none does. You build the message once.
- Google Messages is the only Android RCS client on US carriers since July 2026.
- Samsung Messages RCS ended July 2026; Verizon dropped it in January 2025.
- Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram are not RCS clients and cannot send RCS.
- Third-party SMS apps like Textra have no RCS support and downgrade every thread.
- On Samsung, set Google Messages as default rather than seeking an alternative.